I saw this idea in a magazine over a year ago and then went on Etsy to check them out and possibly buy an already finished one. At the time they were over $100 and I just never followed through on the purchase. A few weeks ago I was at my friend/neighbor Kym’s home….so unbelievably talented…and saw this (above) in her hallway. Not only is the book that’s folded cute, but she took other books and worked them into the frame around the book. So clever!!.
Of course, she made it herself, and I told her I wanted to do one. We decided to make it a group neighborhood project. We had a preliminary meeting of eight or so of us, with Kym giving us the logistics of the project and what we’d need before proceeding. Here’s the list…
pattern …she recommended the Etsy site www.looksinviting.com for easy templates, but there are so many options on Etsy. They’re easy to download and give you the info of what you’ll need in regards to book size, how many pages, etc…. I did like this site because there was no measuring, like some of the templates require.
book…I had quite a few and then went to the library bookstore to get some old inexpensive ones that had interesting inside covers. As Kym instructed, if the inside book cover is boring you can just use contact paper, wallpaper or some other pattern to make it more interesting/fun….or you can just leave the excess pages unfolded.
large hair bands…these came in very handy to hold the folded pages while you were working on the book.
ruler & reading glasses (optional)…you only need these if you download your pattern from a site that requires measuring , as opposed to an easy template…and the glasses are only necessary for those of a certain age!
One of the most important things is making sure you’re starting in the right spot at the beginning of your book, because there are blank pages or un-numbered pages before, after and sometimes throughout the book that you need to account for. I won’t give the whole tutorial here because it’s a bit confusing to explain, but, trust me, follow the instructions so you’re book looks even.
We got together the Friday before Christmas and sat for a few hours folding and helping one another to get the hang of it. Everyone took theirs home to finish.
Here are a few of the finished masterpieces….
I can’t wait to do another one, just because it’s fun, but also, as I said, it’s like a puzzle or knitting…so exciting to see the progress as your going and the finished product is so satisfying.
Have a great weekend!
I love this!!! Definitely going to give it a go🥰
I’ve never seen this done, it’s completely new to me! I’m going to pass it on to some of my primary school teacher friends who teach senior classes (12 Yr olds) as they might like to try a simple one 😊
Great idea! I think it would be a great craft for school…maybe use one of the “measuring” templates and incorporate it into a math lesson?!